WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) Board of Directors has adopted a spending plan for Fiscal Year 2012 that continues to address critical infrastructure and environmental protection needs.

At its February 3 meeting, the Board approved an FY 2012 operating budget of $422.4 million and a 10-year capital budget of $3.8 billion. The Board also proposed a rate increase effective October 1, 2011 to support funding the operating and capital costs. The average residential customer’s bill would increase about $6 per month, based on consumption of 5,004 gallons. DC Water’s rates remain competitive regionally and nationally—and water still costs only about a penny a gallon.

“The work we do becomes more expensive every year,” said DC Water General Manager George S. Hawkins. “Water utilities across the country face the same issues -- immense environmental projects, aging infrastructure, and rising operating costs. Without additional federal funding, our retail and wholesale customers pay most of the tab.”

“We kept the recession’s impact on our customers in mind, and sought to minimize rate increases,” said Chairman William M. Walker. “For the second year in a row, we took another month to evaluate different scenarios and make additional cuts before approving a budget.”

More information on the FY 2012 DC Water budget is available on the accompanying fact sheet or at dcwater.com.

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About the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority

The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) provides drinking water, wastewater collection and treatment to more than 600,000 residential, commercial and governmental customers in the District of Columbia, and also collects and treats wastewater for a population of 1.6 million in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties in Maryland and Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia.

DC Water’s service area covers approximately 725 square miles. The Authority operates the world’s largest advanced wastewater treatment plant, with a capacity of 370 million gallons per day and a peak capacity of 1.076 billion gallons per day.